So, as discussed elsewhere, there really isn't any BTS mod with its primary purpose to add a second Unique Unit to each Civilization.
So let's discuss one!
(This isn't a technical discussion on how to actually implement the mod, where to "borrow" unit graphics from and so on. That stuff can wait, and besides, I understand this would be the wrong forum for such a discussion anyway.)
First, there are a number of general questions that needs to be answered:
1) Do a Civ with an early 1st UU get a late 2nd UU and vice versa?
I say "both", meaning that for diversity's sake, I would like some Civs to remain "early UUs only" and some "late UUs only". It would certainly be a shame if no Civ wouldn't still be feared in the early game, like Incas are now.
2) How do we treat Civs that disappeared early from history?
Instead of confining these Civs to becoming "early UUs only" Civs, I would like to keep the door open for "what if" units. As I see it, having Mayans in the the 20th century should be an opportunity for exotic UUs rather than a limitation!
3) Do Civs with strong 1st UUs automatically get lousy 2nd UUs?
My answer would be, "not necessarily". Just as the Romans are known for their UU strength in the core game, we should keep the notion of having some civs with better UU combinations.
As an additional note, I will remove some of the recent nerfs to 1st UUs for my mod. I believe variety should be encouraged, and besides, as longas the Roman Praetorian is kept, there's no reason for excessive nerfing.
Because assigning 34 new units at a time would be overwhelming, I've selected half a dozen Civs to start off our discussion for: Carthage, England, Khmer, Native American, Russia, Sumeria. The remaining Civs are meant to get their 2nd UUs later on, of course.
I've made sure some of these are BTS only, to underline how this mod should be a BTS mod. I've also selected Civs with a mix of early, mid and late 1st UUs, and I've made sure we can discuss modern units for non-modern Civs.
CARTHAGE
If there's any civ who should have an Elephant UU, this is it! Besides, their 1st UU is also a UU that's worse than the unit it replaces (a Horse Archer wins against a Numidian Cavalry).
* Hannibal's Elephant - War Elephant with a 70 hammer cost (instead of 60) and +50% vs melee.
* Numidian Cavalry - Horse Archer with Mobility promotion and 30% withdrawal chance
Yes, the Hannibal's Elephant is an awesome UU, but remember Ivory is less common than Iron. Besides, 8+50% still makes it only equal to the 6+100% of the Pikeman.
ENGLAND
Here I would really like to see a naval 2nd UU, to emphasize how important naval strength was to the British Empire (the longbowman idea notwithstanding). As naval UUs are generally considered weak, this would also give us a reason to de-nerf the Redcoat somewhat.
This naval unit should of course be later than the Portuguese and Dutch units, and I feel we should implement the UU as a promotion, which can then carry over to more modern ships. Like how the Chinese and Japanese UUs are appreciated.
I propose the unique ability should focus on the Royal Navy's reputation for aggression and decisive leadership. Suggestions:
* Royal Navy Ship of the Line - Ship of the Line with the Leadership promotion (otherwise obtainable only through a Great General)
* Redcoat - Infantry with +2 Strength
KHMER
I want to include an Eastern civ, and why not another BTS one.
* Ballista Elephant - War Elephant, but can bombard city defenses (-4% per turn), causes collateral damage
* Lovek Pirate - Privateer, but with 50% withdrawal chance, targets Galleons first outside of cities.
As you can see, I've kept the intriguing new ability to attack specific units, but I really had to make the Ballista Elephant live up to its cool image. Now it acts the way you'd expect, by being a "half catapult" as regards to city defenses.
I realize the Privateer UU might be too weak, so suggestions are welcome!
NATIVE AMERICAN
This Civ I include for several reasons. It's a good candidate for a fictional 2nd UU (especially as America is a tech leader today), and it suffers from the "my UU is worse than the standard unit" syndrome that I believe no UU should have. Besides, the Dog Soldier is too similar to the Vulture.
So, for no particular reason other than to mix it up a little, I suggest a late 2nd UU for this Civ, and a patched 1st UU.
* Mounted Tank Hunter - Anti-Tank Gun with +2 Strength and +1 Move (Move 2).
* Dog Soldier - Axeman that requires no resource, and benefits from double normal fortification bonuses.
RUSSIA
To me, it's hard to pass by the opportunity to redress the unfortunate impression you get by playing Civ 4: that it's the Germans who makes the best tanks.
Now, I don't wish to steal the Panzer's limelight. Instead, a russian UU should emphasize the good quality to a low price of a russian tank (the T-34). I don't wish to make this 2nd UU a super-unit, because I wish to de-nerf the Cossack.
* Soviet Tank - Tank with a 150 hammer cost (instead of 180) and +50% defense vs Armor units.
* Cossack - Cavalry with +50% vs Mounted units (like in BTS today) but also with Mobility promotion
An interesting alternative would be to instead credit the Russian Empire for its swift expansion throughout Siberia. That would mean the first Explorer UU!
* Yermak - Explorer with +2 Strength and the ability to attack barbarian units.
This would make Russia a contender on New World style maps, as it's possible to conquer barbarian cities (although in a more limited way than the Portuguese).
As you may recognize, I've named the unit after a prominent explorer and conquerer of Siberia. Incidentally, because the real Yermak was also was a Cossack, one option would be to give Cossacks more directly exploratory-useful functions. But I have decided against it here, as the Civ Cossack is clearly a military unit).
SUMERIA
To contrast the Native Americans, here's a Civ that I think would do well as a early-only UU Civ. Besides, now that the Greek UU isn't spear-based anymore, we can use this to our advantage.
* Cloaked Warrior - Spearmen with a 40 hammer cost (instead of 35) but requiring no resource, requires Mysticism in addition to Hunting
* Vulture - Axeman with +1 Strength but +25% vs melee (instead of +50%) (like in BTS)
So let's discuss one!
(This isn't a technical discussion on how to actually implement the mod, where to "borrow" unit graphics from and so on. That stuff can wait, and besides, I understand this would be the wrong forum for such a discussion anyway.)
First, there are a number of general questions that needs to be answered:
1) Do a Civ with an early 1st UU get a late 2nd UU and vice versa?
I say "both", meaning that for diversity's sake, I would like some Civs to remain "early UUs only" and some "late UUs only". It would certainly be a shame if no Civ wouldn't still be feared in the early game, like Incas are now.
2) How do we treat Civs that disappeared early from history?
Instead of confining these Civs to becoming "early UUs only" Civs, I would like to keep the door open for "what if" units. As I see it, having Mayans in the the 20th century should be an opportunity for exotic UUs rather than a limitation!
3) Do Civs with strong 1st UUs automatically get lousy 2nd UUs?
My answer would be, "not necessarily". Just as the Romans are known for their UU strength in the core game, we should keep the notion of having some civs with better UU combinations.
As an additional note, I will remove some of the recent nerfs to 1st UUs for my mod. I believe variety should be encouraged, and besides, as longas the Roman Praetorian is kept, there's no reason for excessive nerfing.
Because assigning 34 new units at a time would be overwhelming, I've selected half a dozen Civs to start off our discussion for: Carthage, England, Khmer, Native American, Russia, Sumeria. The remaining Civs are meant to get their 2nd UUs later on, of course.
I've made sure some of these are BTS only, to underline how this mod should be a BTS mod. I've also selected Civs with a mix of early, mid and late 1st UUs, and I've made sure we can discuss modern units for non-modern Civs.
CARTHAGE
If there's any civ who should have an Elephant UU, this is it! Besides, their 1st UU is also a UU that's worse than the unit it replaces (a Horse Archer wins against a Numidian Cavalry).
* Hannibal's Elephant - War Elephant with a 70 hammer cost (instead of 60) and +50% vs melee.
* Numidian Cavalry - Horse Archer with Mobility promotion and 30% withdrawal chance
Yes, the Hannibal's Elephant is an awesome UU, but remember Ivory is less common than Iron. Besides, 8+50% still makes it only equal to the 6+100% of the Pikeman.
ENGLAND
Here I would really like to see a naval 2nd UU, to emphasize how important naval strength was to the British Empire (the longbowman idea notwithstanding). As naval UUs are generally considered weak, this would also give us a reason to de-nerf the Redcoat somewhat.
This naval unit should of course be later than the Portuguese and Dutch units, and I feel we should implement the UU as a promotion, which can then carry over to more modern ships. Like how the Chinese and Japanese UUs are appreciated.
I propose the unique ability should focus on the Royal Navy's reputation for aggression and decisive leadership. Suggestions:
* Royal Navy Ship of the Line - Ship of the Line with the Leadership promotion (otherwise obtainable only through a Great General)
* Redcoat - Infantry with +2 Strength
KHMER
I want to include an Eastern civ, and why not another BTS one.
* Ballista Elephant - War Elephant, but can bombard city defenses (-4% per turn), causes collateral damage
* Lovek Pirate - Privateer, but with 50% withdrawal chance, targets Galleons first outside of cities.
As you can see, I've kept the intriguing new ability to attack specific units, but I really had to make the Ballista Elephant live up to its cool image. Now it acts the way you'd expect, by being a "half catapult" as regards to city defenses.
I realize the Privateer UU might be too weak, so suggestions are welcome!
NATIVE AMERICAN
This Civ I include for several reasons. It's a good candidate for a fictional 2nd UU (especially as America is a tech leader today), and it suffers from the "my UU is worse than the standard unit" syndrome that I believe no UU should have. Besides, the Dog Soldier is too similar to the Vulture.
So, for no particular reason other than to mix it up a little, I suggest a late 2nd UU for this Civ, and a patched 1st UU.
* Mounted Tank Hunter - Anti-Tank Gun with +2 Strength and +1 Move (Move 2).
* Dog Soldier - Axeman that requires no resource, and benefits from double normal fortification bonuses.
RUSSIA
To me, it's hard to pass by the opportunity to redress the unfortunate impression you get by playing Civ 4: that it's the Germans who makes the best tanks.
Now, I don't wish to steal the Panzer's limelight. Instead, a russian UU should emphasize the good quality to a low price of a russian tank (the T-34). I don't wish to make this 2nd UU a super-unit, because I wish to de-nerf the Cossack.
* Soviet Tank - Tank with a 150 hammer cost (instead of 180) and +50% defense vs Armor units.
* Cossack - Cavalry with +50% vs Mounted units (like in BTS today) but also with Mobility promotion
An interesting alternative would be to instead credit the Russian Empire for its swift expansion throughout Siberia. That would mean the first Explorer UU!
* Yermak - Explorer with +2 Strength and the ability to attack barbarian units.
This would make Russia a contender on New World style maps, as it's possible to conquer barbarian cities (although in a more limited way than the Portuguese).
As you may recognize, I've named the unit after a prominent explorer and conquerer of Siberia. Incidentally, because the real Yermak was also was a Cossack, one option would be to give Cossacks more directly exploratory-useful functions. But I have decided against it here, as the Civ Cossack is clearly a military unit).
SUMERIA
To contrast the Native Americans, here's a Civ that I think would do well as a early-only UU Civ. Besides, now that the Greek UU isn't spear-based anymore, we can use this to our advantage.
* Cloaked Warrior - Spearmen with a 40 hammer cost (instead of 35) but requiring no resource, requires Mysticism in addition to Hunting
* Vulture - Axeman with +1 Strength but +25% vs melee (instead of +50%) (like in BTS)
